Snowstorm and intermittent connection problems
Where I live, mid-March is still winter. Yes, tiny green shoots that will someday become daylilies have been poking up in the sunniest spots. But snow and ice storms can still happen for at least another month, and today there’s a snowstorm with wind.
It’s quite lovely and swirly out there, but I was having connectivity problems earlier, although the power hadn’t gone out.
Yet.
Last night I got about six text messages from the power company, all of them saying the power might go out and they’ll be working hard to fix it. Nothing like a little anticipatory self-congratulation. It often goes off in storms because of trees coming down or other weather-related events, and one terrible time many years ago it was out for five miserable days when the temperature fell below zero.
So I’m posting this while I still can, and hoping that this time all the warning will prove to have just been alarmist.
Best of luck to you.
Stay warm and safe!
Stay warm! And it’s reasonable that the utilities can’t send linemen out in bucket trucks to fix downed lines and damaged equipment while the wind is blowing hard.
Neo–
Good luck. We’ve had the same storm hitting coastal CT, only mostly as rain. Last night it poured– at least 1.5 inches, according to the NWS. The rain changed over to snow about 3 p.m. today, but not much accumulation as it quickly changed back to rain. High winds are the major concern now– a wind advisory went into effect at 4 p.m., to last until 11 a.m. on the Ides tomorrow. I hope all goes well with your power company and your connectivity.
It often goes off in storms because of trees coming down or other weather-related events, and one terrible time many years ago it was out for five miserable days when the temperature fell below zero.
In mid-December 1973, an ice storm resulted in the power in northeast CT going out for 5 days, but the temperature was in the high 30s to low 40s which, come to think of it, is around the temperature associated with an ice storm. So, not that cold. We fortunately had a primitive gas stove that didn’t have electric ignition, so we could cook our meals. Friends with an electric stove had some meals with us. The fireplace kept the house in the mid-40s, which is bearable. (Even with the heat and electricity on, my room in winter was 50-55 degrees at night, so mid-40s wasn’t that much different from normal.)
When I experienced storm-caused blackouts in TX in recent years, I thought to myself, just like old times back in NE.
Yep, reminds me of the Halloween snow storm some years back. We were without power for 5 days…rural town in eastern CT so we were last on Eversource’s list. It was at that point I really had enough of New England.
75, low humidity, cloudless sky here today in Jax
The weather and fallout has been quite bad out here over the last 5 days. Hwy 101 was flooded & I got stuck in that. A main artery 4 lane street through several communities including mine was closed. All communities but one were without power for 2.5 days.
Things were back to normal and this morning we had a big wind storm. I saw my neighbor’s tree get knocked down by what looked like a 60 mph gust several hours ago. It was actually the city’s tree in front of her property and I was impressed that the city got a guy with a chainsaw out within a few hours to clear her entryway.
Can I say that today in my part of CO it got to low 60’s, and maybe 70 tomorrow. It will cool down to the mid 40’s after that for a few days. We can get heavy wet snows in March, not much cold though. Stay warm.
My neighborhood had an outage of about three hours which has just ended. That was the second major power loss here in less than two weeks. It’s been quite a March! I’d been working from home today and was close to wrapping up a task when it happened. But it seems this time the crews weren’t as backlogged with emergency work as last week. It makes me concerned about the robustness of our regional power transmission systems, though.
Seventeen inches of snow so far here in Central New York, and more still coming down. The power’s still on so far, but we’ll see!
A while back, there was an 5.6 earthquake that woke me up and knocked out the power. The intensity of the quake was unusual for central OK. I reached for a whiskey bottle to calm my nerves. A nice cup of tea would have had the same impact, but there was no power.
For many days, I ended up boiling water to put in the thermos so I could have some tea or broth, just in case. I still do that when severe weather approaches. Hot water in thermos, cold water, go bag, hidey-hole – I’m ready. But, the scary thing is that I have already gone into the “safe place” this year – it’s too soon for severe weather!
I can heat up water and fix meals in case of an emergency, I just don’t want to do that task in the middle of the night. Be prepared!
Mrs Whatsit – I was in Upstate for 5 years (Ithaca and Syracuse) – I can remember returning from a job and not finding my car – it was snowed in and unfortunately, the apartment people plowed the car on the driver’s side. They paid for the damage, but I had to crawl over the seat/stick shift for a couple of weeks – not fun in a business suit.
Stay safe!
Been lucky so far–western Michigan, but with troubles happening around us. I have a wood burning fireplace and a substantial wood pile. Our fireplace is built so the combustion air is drawn from outside the thing, not pulling from inside the house. After a couple of hours, the brick work is hot and throws heat, too.
I also have a brand, new chain saw, just in case.
Those power company guys earn their double time. But when you see a convoy from out of state at the Holiday Inn, you can forget the free breakfast.
In the past, I never worried about power outages. I figure that if I have enough food that doesn’t need to be cooked/heated, if I have enough blankets to stay warm for a couple of days, then everything will be okay.
It is different now with my mother in the living room in a hospital bed (with a powered air mattress that prevents bed sores) and an oxygen concentrator, if power goes out it will be a hassle.
I have the bed plugged into a UPS (uninterruptable power source) so that if/when the power goes out I can unplug the air hose and put in the air plug without losing the firmness of the mattress. Then I have a back up oxygen tank – which I have never used. The hospice nurses have shown me how to use it; but, I know that I will be calling the 24/7 hotline if the power goes out to walk me through using it.
Really, I think that I am ready and will be able to handle it – the real challenge might be to keep mother calm while in her mind it might come across as the world is ending. I think if the only problem for her will be not having TV then she will be good for a few hours! I do have enough blankets, etc. to cover her under several layers to keep warm if needed.
Yesterday and today we had strong winds; and today several rounds of snow squalls which came down rather heavily, but, nothing to really coat much.
I’ve been in this house for just over 6 years and the times we have lost power it was only out for a couple of hours. Keeping my fingers crossed – hoping everyone stays safe and warm.
Looks like y’all are in for another rough few days Boss…look after yourself & we’ll keep praying for a few days where the daffodils can poke their heads out safely.
charles–
Wishing the best for you and your mother; please let us know that both of you have weathered the storm.
Yes, charles, best wishes to you and your mother.